User question
Good day.
I have a rather old computer (I bought it back in 2006) and when installing the Chrome or Opera browser, the computer slows down, you can only dream of normal operation.
Could you recommend a browser that is less resource-intensive and faster ...
Hello!
I think you will agree with me that the concept of "weak computer" is rather relative 👀. For some it is a computer like Pentium III (on which the browser can hardly start ...), for others it is such a PC - which is a couple of years old ...
This section of the article will be about computers, let's say, no older than 10-15 years (starting approximately with Pentium IV, 512 MB of RAM, Windows OS: 98, ME, 2000, XP). I think in 2006 you bought something like this (maybe a little better / worse).
The machines are weaker, usually, they are not used at home and I will not consider them (they remained only in narrow places, where they fully cope with their task, and there they know what to do with them without me 😎). For example, I have seen more than once how Pentium 2 (3) was used in university libraries (as literature catalogs): their capabilities are more than enough for this.
And so, let's get down to business ...
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6 best browsers with low system requirements
1) Palemoon
Website: //www.palemoon.org/
An excellent browser designed specifically for older computers (works well even on Pentium IV or Athlon 64). It is a slightly modified and modified copy of Mozilla Firefox.
Palemoon - screenshot of the main browser window
But thanks to the developers 'improvements, the browser consumes significantly less resources and works an order of magnitude faster than its older brother (according to the developers' assurances, up to 25%).
Full compatibility with Firefox extensions is preserved. It is also worth noting the support of the Russian language (although the addition is put separately).
In general, if modern popular browsers are slowing down you, I recommend trying it first!
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2) K-Meleon
Website: //sourceforge.net/projects/kmeleon/
Another browser developed on the Gecko engine (like the previous one, like Mozilla Firefox).
K-Meleon - main window screen
This browser differs from the rest: its very low system requirements and speed of work. It is also worth noting that the toolbar in K-Meleon has buttons that allow you to quickly disable all Flash content and scripts on a web page (convenient for fighting ads).
Requirements:
- Windows: 98, NT 4, 2000, ME, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 (in general, almost all OS versions from Microsoft are supported);
- from 64 MB of RAM;
from 50 MB of free space on the HDD.
The browser is completely free and open source. Designed specifically for Windows 32 bit (Win 32).
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3) Falkon (formerly QupZilla)
Website: //www.falkon.org/
Falkon is an interesting web browser. After the merger of the project with QupZilla in 2018, version 3.0 was born (like the "Phoenix" bird), which began to combine all the best features of both browsers.
Falkon - start page / like a phoenix
Falkon is distinguished primarily by the fact that it is lightweight (works even on budget PCs), fast (pages load very quickly), and the project is supported by almost all platforms (Windows, Android, Linux, etc.).
Falkon also supports all the most popular features in browsers: bookmarks, smart search bar, browsing history, etc. By default, ad blocking is enabled in this browser (a kind of AdBlock plugin).
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4) Maxthon Nitro
Website: //www.maxthon.com/nitro/
Browser start page
This browser is the little brother of Maxthon. It differs from its full-fledged brother, as you understand, in several important things:
- Some resources and functions have been removed, due to which the system requirements of the program are reduced;
- Smart caching of websites (the program automatically remembers the pages, and when you visit them again, it does not download the same duplicate data 10 times);
- The interface has been changed: all elements that load and consume computer resources have been removed and changed.
In fact, the browser is light and fast. I definitely recommend you to get acquainted!
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5) Otter Browser
Official website: //otter-browser.org/
This browser is based on the classic Opera (V.12). I want to note right away that this browser is not a 100% copy of Opera itself, but a well-developed and modified version beyond recognition! 👌
Otter Browser - what the welcome page looks like
What sets it apart from other competitors:
- Variety of tabs: dock, undock, side tabs, bottom, top ...;
- Download and session managers;
- Setting up search engines (there are many of them in the browser);
- Convenient search bar;
- The appearance of thumbnails of tabs when you hover over them with the mouse cursor (very convenient if you have opened several tabs);
- Simple and ascetic design that does not overload you with anything unnecessary;
- The ability to scale the page.
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6) Browzar Black
Developer site: //www.browzar.com/
Latest version to download: see on UpToDown
A stunningly light browser! When working with him, you can rest assured - he will delete all your traces of stay, all history, cookies, etc. More precisely, it is better to say that he does not store it at all!
Add to that that it doesn't need to be installed and weighs less than a megabyte (at least at the time of this writing ☝).
Browzar Black is a seemingly ordinary browser ...
The speed of processing your requests by the browser and opening web pages is also striking: they are displayed literally with lightning speed (faster than in Chrome!). This is explained by the fact that the browser is heavily curtailed in functionality, so its use is necessary in cases where other browsers slow down and prevent the normal reading of web pages.
So, this browser is suitable for all owners of weak PCs, I definitely recommend you to familiarize yourself!
Among the shortcomings: the browser does not have important functions, for example, it does not remember the passwords you entered (you will have to re-enter them each time), does not keep history, does not work with ActiveX controls. In general, you need to use it pointwise and for its intended purpose (for everyday work on a regular PC - I would not recommend it ...).
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The above list is not a panacea. Ready for constructive criticism in the comments.
Good luck!
👋
First publication: 09.09.2017
Correction of the article: 01/06/2020
